Paul Cézanne

Boy in a Red Vest (Le Garçon au gilet rouge)

1888–1890
Oil on canvas
66 × 55 cm (26 × 21.7 in)

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● On view now — Collection Gallery, Main Room, North Wall

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

While we know the identity of the subject—he was a professional model, Michelangelo de Rosa, who posed for Cézanne several times—the artist didn't intend this as a portrait in the traditional sense. Rather, the painting is perhaps better understood as a study in human psychology and emotion. Shoulders slumped, mouth turned down, eyes staring into the distance, the boy seems a picture of melancholy.

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